1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a remote control apparatus and more particularly to a remote control apparatus employing a touch panel, which is capable of sensing coordinates of a specified point, as an input device of a remote control signal as well as display means displaying thereon an image for inputting the operating command to each device remote controlled and an image which indicates operation status of the device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A remote control apparatus is in use to control operations of various devices located remote from a user. When it is desired to control a remote device such as, for example, a video or a television set, the user can control such a set from a distance with a remote control apparatus dedicated to each set and operating the remote control apparatus by, for example, pressing switches provided thereon. Recently, however, a wide variety of devices have come to be used in general homes and others, such as television (TV), video tape recorder (VTR), compact disk (CD), video disk (VD), laser disk (LD), and audio system (AD), and the remote control apparatus have also increased in number. As a result, a problem has been produced that operations of a plurality of such remote control apparatus have become complicated and management of them has become troublesome.
There also was such a disadvantage in the conventional remote control apparatus that it was not possible to confirm with it if a remote controlled device has been put in proper operation and to check if a device is kept in a normal operating condition.
Accordingly, there have been proposed a remote control apparatus usable commonly to various devices and a remote control apparatus capable of receiving a status signal indicating the operating condition of the controlled device and making it displayed thereon.
The remote control apparatus common to various devices hitherto proposed, however, has had such disadvantages that the same must have separate keys provided thereon for each of the remote controlled devices, hence a large number of keys, and so, the remote control apparatus has become larger in size. If the remote control apparatus is restricted in size, its display portion for displaying the operating condition of a device becomes too small to be seen easily, and, furthermore, it becomes unable to make a variety of displays.